


Fettered

by Timpeni



Category: Samurai Warriors
Genre: Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-07
Updated: 2014-05-07
Packaged: 2018-01-23 21:50:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1580726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timpeni/pseuds/Timpeni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a crueler fate than losing yourself. Realizing you never had an identity in the first place.</p><p>Somehow, Nouhime might fall into both categories at the same time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fettered

**Author's Note:**

> look, another thing Timpeni starts that she'll never finish
> 
> i just wanted to write cute shit on whim and then this happened
> 
> how do you characterize Nouhime, such a mystery. other characters will appear later i swear, also this timeline is from Samurai Warrior: Oh god fucked if I know

Most would think that being a princess allowed for more freedom.

Well- honestly speaking, she does have more freedom than most others.

Apart from the training her father puts her through, she’s got enough food to eat. She has a big enough living space. She can make friends with anyone she wants to (and they’re kind of obliged to, but she’s fairly certain she treats them well enough).

“What are you going here? Get out!”

But apparently, she doesn’t have her own privacy.

The small boy immediately shrinks awayto hide behind the cabinet completely. He’s obviously still there, though. Nouhime grabs- well, she reaches for something to cover herself slightly- and turns back around to bark again. “How did you get in here? The door was always locked!”

A bit of silence. “I got lost.”

“You must think me an idiot if you expect me to believe that. Now tell me how you really came in.”

“…I got in from the window. Then I hid here.”

“This room is _floors_ above the ground. Tell me the truth, or I’ll rip your throat out. How long have you been standing there?”

“N-no! I really just came in! Don’t kill me, my lady!” It’s a bit surreal, to hear a child she might even consider still a toddler screech out ‘my lady’ and trying to sound formal. “They bet I couldn’t get in, but I did.”

Her feet skittering towards the windows for a moment, the stunning view of greenery and light instead being obscured by… _something_ sticking into the large shower area. She didn’t see it, when hiding herself behind a wall- and it’s a good thing no one’s walking outside right now, or she might be even more embarrassed than she is already.

Is- is that a ladder? A huge… hand-made ladder?

“I’m sorry, princess!” Now, Nouhime can _clearly_ hear that the boy’s bawling his eyes out at this point. “I didn’t know you were inside, and I was too scared to climb back down, so I went inside instead, I’m sorry!”

“You could’ve hidden yourself behind the cabinet _without_ peeking, still,” she deadpans, but… “Did you make this whole thing by yourself?”

A small bit of shuffling, as if he’s trying to make up an excuse, but he spits out an answer in the end. “…No, Mitsuhide helped teach how to make part of it first.”

“Mitsuhide.” Her voice is definitely dangerously still at that. He better not have known what it was for, or else…

Still, though. She can’t exactly trust the kid is telling the truth completely, but if the ladder-building part is true- it stretched up _floors._ “You haven’t told me who this ‘they’ is.”

“…”

“Ohoh, so is that it? You’ll take the punishment and execution for your friends, then?”

That sends him right back to bawling even more loudly. “Please don’t kill me! Don’t kill me! I know I should’ve climbed down! I’m sorry, princess!”

“…No, it’s a good thing you didn’t climb down. You’re a rather smart kid. Not smart enough to stop yourself from being ‘convinced’ by an ‘anonymous group of people’ to do something as foolhardy as this, but it’s better than being an honorable idiot.” That means she doesn’t buy the whole ‘they told me to’ excuse, not for a moment. She does honestly mean the last part, at least- for a second, she contemplates, then stretches her hand out and pushes the whole wooden ladder down.

The pieces begin falling apart before it even slams into the grass and building blocks with a _crash_ that might make her father think they were under attack. It’s a miracle this kid was still in one piece.

“What’s your name, boy? I’ll speak with you and Mitsuhide later. I’ll get changed… and you can leave afterwards.”

“Takenaka Hanbei! Thank you for your mercy, my lady!”

She’s not going to lie, his sniffling and pathetic begging is slightly endearing.

~*~

“I knew nothing of his intentions.”

Mitsuhide’s honest enough for Nouhime to drop the accusations quickly. Still, she’ll keep an eye on him… right now, it’s Hanbei’s turn to try to explain himself.

(Did you know that a sixteen-year-old still looked absolutely terrifying to a child barely reaching seven?) The boy sat upright, staring right at Nouhime’s face. “It’s rude to stare, you know,” she says, and his head immediately falls right down to stare at the ground, as if she’d went over and snapped his neck.

“You can still look at me.”

Hanbei’s head snaps up again, staring right at her again. “But how can I look at you without staring?”

Perfect, does she have to teach this boy basic manners? Nouhime has to remind herself that he’s seven… and honestly, the question is a bit cute. “You don’t need to listen to every word I say so attentively, and keep looking at my face as if you’d die if you even blinked.” She reaches for his face- Hanbei looks like he’s about to flinch, but she ruffles his hair instead. She’s not very good with children, and doesn’t deal with them often- and Mitsuhide probably isn’t any better, even with that boy, Ranmaru. He’s definitely not interjecting into her words, but she can still feel his gaze.

What, does he think she might actually hurt Hanbei? That’s rather insulting.

“I thought you would be crying now, especially with how you howled yesterday,” she suddenly says. “Or were those all crocodile tears?”

“No! They were real. Mitsuhide told me you were nice and wouldn’t kill me, so I’m not scared.”

Oh. Children tend to be a bit more truthful than necessary, and she chuckles a bit while casting a glance at Mitsuhide’s direction. He’s probably feeling secondhand embarrassment for the child. “So, is now a good time to tell me who this ‘they’ is?”

“…Me?”

They really _were_ too truthful for their own good, but also cheeky enough to lie. If Mitsuhide was actually preparing for her to do something to Hanbei, his fears are unfounded. That answers is actually good enough for her. “Well, since you’ve gazed upon the epitome of beauty yourself, you might want to enjoy your eyesight while it lasts. All who see my naked form are doomed to go blind, after all.”

Hanbei immediately stares back at her with hilariously widened eyes, rushing to his feet (it would be melodramatic if it was an act, but it _isn’t_ and that just amuses her more). “Go blind?!”

“Yes. That should be punishment enough. Soon, you’ll find your eyesight blurring at the edges, then completely… colors will fade from your vision, and-”

“I believe that’s quite enough, princess,” Mitsuhide quickly interrupts after a long silence. The damage has been done, however- Hanbei shivers and suddenly cries again, his voice reaching almost deafening volumes in an instant.

Nouhime watches the show, or rather, Mitsuhide making a fool of himself trying to comfort Hanbei. “It’s alright, she was only trying to scare you. You won’t go blind-”

“But it’s already happening! My eyes are all blurry!”

“That’s only because you’re crying…”

~*~

“He’s still crying.”

“After all this time? It’s been days!” Unfortunately for Hanbei, she’s still more amused than anything.

Mitsuhide, less so- even though he phrases his words far too carefully for Nouhime’s liking, she can tell he doesn't like it. “I myself can barely imagine the feeling of… having your privacy so brazenly disrespected. But surely you understand, he did not mean to-”

“And for that reason, I’m letting him off easy,” Nouhime says, cutting him off. “I’m getting a little bored… it would serve you well to beat around the bush less, Mitsuhide.”

Without even waiting for a response, she continued on again. “Besides, you are vassal to my father. I am your princess. By logic, shouldn’t you be going along with what I do?”

“I know you won’t react adversely to anything I say.”

“You _know?_ Hm, what a bold thing to claim.” To others, they might find themselves in a tight spot- but Nouhime is perfectly fine with conversations like these, bordering on near-threats and passive-aggressive ramblings.

He is right on that count, though. For now, at the exact moment, she had no intent to hurt anyone. Nouhime could easily drag a knife through his throat with little to no consequences, but what would be the use of that?

“…Master Mitsuhide?”

Knock knock. Someone’s knocking on the door. “I’ll get it-”

But unfortunately for him, Nouhime’s already sliding away the covers. The person standing in front of her- is around the same age as Hanbei, maybe even younger.

Nouhime would think the boy a young girl, if she didn’t partly know who he was. “Oh, you must be little Ranmaru. You’re even more adorable in person…”

“…Um… thank you?” She reaches out and pinches Ranmaru’s cheek, maybe a bit hard, and he squeaks a little.

Mitsuhide ends up getting in between them before Nouhime is able to severely traumatize his pupil too.

~*~

“Do you have a death wish? If you fall from such a height, it would be a rather splendid show… but such a short-term entertainment just for your princess in return for your life is too noble for you, Hanbei.”

The boy doesn’t give in, still continuing to climb up the tree. A tree that hung even higher than the peak of the castle’s roof- using a ladder that was much more sturdy than the one from three years ago.

Partly because it was reused from an old one, and partly because he’s gotten quite good at this.

“Good morning, princess! Don’t worry about me, I won’t die like this!” He’s certainly grown more cheek, too, and bit back on the crying part. Still… it was rather out of place, how he’d find high spots almost magnetic to nap in. “And besides, this give me a good view of the whole area. I can see where all invaders can come in from, and alert anyone if I spot an army!”

“Are you sure you won’t just run away if you see danger?”

“Nuh-uh! I’m going to be the Saitou clan’s best strategist, my lady!” Scrambling even higher and voice getting just a bit softer, Hanbei peeks out through the mess of leaves.

Nouhime, for lack of anything better to do, of course, continued to linger around. “Oh? And what makes you think that?”

And the boy’s obviously been waiting for that question, because he puffs out his chest (like a bird displaying his plumage), and stands up proudly on one of the larger branches. “Because our teacher said that, among everyone else, _I’m_ the smartest one! So, obviously, when I grow up, I’ll be the best strategist!”

Children have the cutest logic.

“And I’ll protect you from any invading Mino and those who want to creep into your bathroom when you shower, princess!” He’s absolutely confident in that declaration.

“So, what makes you think I’ll still be in Mino when you grow up?”

Hanbei tilts his head at that (because as much Nouhime can _taste_ and feel the world going to hell around her, Hanbei still doesn’t know, doesn’t know enough to even guess why she wouldn’t be in Mino and not enough to handle the sweat and blood and smell of iron it comes with being a strategist-), before smiling. “If you need to go somewhere else, princess, I’ll just follow you!”

And maybe it’s to prove his point, because Hanbei takes a step forward closer to her- only to pause abruptly, because a cough barrels its way up his throat out of nowhere. She thinks nothing of it, but his small frame shakes a bit more than it should, and the branch is thick but not _that_ thick and-

-he doesn’t have the air in his lungs to scream-

-Nouhime definitely notices thatand springs into action, like she’s been trained, claws extending far past her normal arm length-

-Hanbei’s falling, but she lunges and pushes herself in the air with those claws tearing into the tree trunk just fast enough, and he lands right on top of her, before they both slam into the floor unceremoniously.

The boy can’t even make a snide remark about this. They're both short of breath, and he tries to force himself onto his feet, but just ends up falling again on his face.

“…My lady!” He speaks before Nouhime does, though, even though his arms are shivering and his face is a pale shade she hasn’t seen in three years. “Princess, are you alright?!”

“I’ve been through worse,” Nouhime deadpans, getting up herself. Snatching Hanbei out of midair was not something she was gearing for today, but oh well. “I don’t mind getting dirty once in a while. There is something I’d like to ask, though.”

Hanbei’s still shaking (is he crying again? He _is-_ ), but he sits upright in attention anyway. “Yes, my lady!”

“Your cough. I know you’ve had it for quite some time.” And if it’s anything she knows, diseases that drag on for months don’t tend to be very good. Since assassins can be repelled and food is plentiful for those higher up… one of the main ways for those on top to fall, other than the odd ‘accident’ here and there, is from disease.

He pauses a bit at that- Nouhime hasn’t asked an actual question yet, but he’s quick enough to pick up what it means. (Perceptive kid.) “Don’t worry about me, princess! It’s just a cough. That’s why I’m always climbing up to such high places- the air in the trees is a lot fresher!”

Well, then.

She finally gets to her feet, nonchalantly brushing the dirt off her skin- as if she didn’t just save someone from a rather abrupt death. “So that’s it. Well, Crybaby Hanbei, you should use something else to reach the top of trees. You can’t become the best strategist if you’re dead, after all.”

(To this day, Mitsuhide still puzzles over _why_ Nouhime would give Hanbei such a dangerous weapon as a Lunar New Year present.)

~*~

Mitsuhide turned out to be rather important, in the end. When he was called their ‘trusted vassal’, he really _was_ their _trusted_ vassal, because there’s no other reason why he’d be sitting in this room as well.

Hanbei turned out to be a rather bright spark, when he learned to stop crying at his problems and fix them instead. ‘Rather bright’ being an understatement of sorts, because he’s becoming something of a _genius_ in order to be here.

Ranmaru turned out- no, she can’t say anything about him. He’s barely outgrown his sword, much less done anything of mention. He hasn’t grown. That’s why he’s not in this room.

“Do you understand me?”

The dagger ~~scrapes~~ slides across the floor, rather smoothly for having been tossed so forcefully.

“Kill the fool.” Nouhime can almost forget the two (friends?) allies are sitting behind her- even though the tension in the air is much more than two people can muster.

Then again, she wouldn’t really think her father wasn’t capable of such an _aura._ Especially considering what she’s going to be sent to do.

An important enough mission that there needs to be two witnesses, apparently. And Nouhime can’t help but wonder what will happen to them should she fail.

The dagger slides out its case. The blade easily sinks a good few inches into the wooden floor.

“I will do what you ask, father.”

~*~

Also, she happens to be a fucking liar.

Saying such things is much simpler than doing them, obviously. That’s one of the main factors of life. Inertia, cowardice, hesitation- everything boils down to destruction and deposing. Nouhime is _honest_ with herself. She doesn’t lie, she does what she needs to do.

Does she really need to do this, though? (Honestly, truly?)

“She is stunning, is she not?” Her smile does not falter. The first step to even get close to him is look pretty enough to be sold.

Except her father’s a conman, and Nobunaga might not be buying it.

“Stunning? Perhaps in beauty, but I have no use for a barren woman.” Oh, so he knew about that. Her father’s face definitely falls at that, because if there’s one person who can kill him the most easily-

Nouhime also does not like to see things slip through her fingers.

“I thought the esteemed Demon King would know to expect more from others,” she almost coos, unsure- _extremely_ unsure- about how he would receive this. She is a liar and also a hypocrite, because she’s basing her understanding of him on word of mouth and what she’s already seen-

-and people can never truly understand each other. Never, ever, and she made sure no one would ever be cocky enough to _think_ they could understand her.

The claws dig into the floor like the dagger did, and Nobunaga’s guards point their spears at her- as if they thought they could actually hurt her.

Speechless. It’s a nice silence. Her weapons are still threatening to tear the floor- and those nearby- apart, and her father can’t find the words to say anything as well.

“Excellent,” her target finally utters, and the laugh is far less hollow than even she expected.

(She cannot _understand_ people, but she can guess.)


End file.
